Maryland Approves Energy Efficiency and Solar Energy Bills

April 25, 2007

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley signed 173 bills on April 24th,
including three bills to encourage energy efficiency and renewable
energy within the state. Senate Bill 103, the Maryland Clean Cars Act
of 2007, requires the state's Department of Environment to follow
California's lead in establishing a low-emissions vehicle program that
will go into effect with the 2011 model year. The program will include
limits on greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles. Senate Bill 332
establishes the Maryland Green Building Council, which will advise the
governor and state legislators on how to use green building principles
in state construction projects. See the governor's press release, the
full 51-page list of signed bills (PDF 196 KB), and the legislative Web pages for
SB 103 and
SB 332.
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Though the governor focused on the two efficiency bills, a renewable
energy bill is likely to have an equal or greater impact on the state.
Senate Bill 595 modifies the state's renewable energy requirement to
include a minimum percentage of solar power, starting at 0.005 percent
of retail electricity sales in 2008 and increasing to 2 percent of
electricity sales by 2022. The new solar requirement is added on to
the previous renewable requirement, which called for 7.5 percent
renewable energy by 2019. The bill also increases the maximum size of
customer-owned, grid-connected power systems for net metering from
200 kilowatts to 2 megawatts, and requires utilities to provide net
metering for up to 1,500 megawatts of customer-owned generation
systems. Net metering allows customers to earn credit for power fed
back into the electrical grid. The Solar Energy Industries Association
(SEIA) hailed the passage of the bill, claiming that it will make
Maryland into one of the nation's largest markets for solar energy.
See the legislative Web page for SB 595
and the SEIA press release.

Maryland also signed onto the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative on April 20th, making it the tenth state to join the regional effort to cut
greenhouse gas emissions. Governor O'Malley also signed an executive
order creating a commission to examine ways to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions within the state and to develop a strategy to reduce
Maryland's vulnerability to climate change. See the governor's
press release.